Book Two: Shadowbane

How long has it been since she was brought to this place? A storm raged outside the damp walls of her cell, the wind howling and whistling. She wished the wind would bring the castle down on her, end her misery where she lay. But she couldn't. Not yet. A fire burned within her chest, the only thing that kept her warm and alive. Ravnyk had taken her sight by not giving her any light, but she was able to smell the mold and death that was around her. There was dripping coming from further down the corridor, otherwise it was silence. Was she the only prisoner down here? It could be likely that any others were possibly executed before her arrival down there, but with the amount of death down there, she wouldn't be surprised if their was corpses left unattended.

A creak sounded, followed by a pair of footfalls descending stone steps. Rayne lifted her eyelids as light penetrated her cell. She shut her eyes, the light of the torch painfully blinding. When she did open her eyes against her mind's wishes, they focused on the individual that held the torch. He discarded his silver plate armor, replaced with obsidian half plate. His once vibrant blue gaze now dulled to a pale blue, his brown hair cut short once more and his face cleanly shaven. Rayne knew this man personally, it ached to see him get corrupted this way. She glimpsed at the lowly soldier beside him, the same knight that greeted them when they first arrived to this Hell they called a Kingdom. He had also discarded his silver plate armor and matched with Gideon.

The knight bent down, placing a bowl of what she thought was once stew, but the mold that sat on top of the dark liquid said otherwise. She got to her feet, a wave of nausea and dizziness swept through her, but she held together as she approached the cell bars. Gideon didn't flinch as he stared through her. She picked up the bowl, splashing the contents over the torch. The flame extinguished, putting both men into total darkness. She slipped into her shirt where she knew her amulet still resided and grabbed the collar of Gideon's armor while they both fumbled to get their torch lit again. She managed to get the amulet around Gideon's neck when the other knight finally struck a tinderbox, lighting a different torch. Rayne met Gideon's gaze just as she tucked the amulet out of sight, watching as his boring blue eyes came to life at last.

"You wretched bitch." the other knight reached through the bars, grabbing her cloak and slammed her against the iron bars. She grunted, dropping to her knees as she held her head. The dizziness kicked in once more and her vision faded to black.

Gideon looked down at Rayne's unconscious body as the events of the past few months came flooding back to him. They arrived back at the kingdom, ready to hand over the fake head of Xerath, but Ravnyk saw right through it all. It was a trap from the very beginning. Not only that, he had completely manipulated the people and the guard. Orcs and goblins had infiltrated, rampaging homes of those that were not under Ravnyk's control. It felt like a fog was lifted off of his mind and he was finally able to think clearly. He could vaguely remember the women he bed, but still unsatisfied. He remembered the walks he took around the city, looking at the disarray and chaos Ravnyk's creatures left behind. He could vaguely recall a conversation with Ravnyk from time to time. It always began with a speech of power, but it always concluded about Rayne. Why was the bastard so obsessed with her?

"Let's go. We have a meeting with King Ravnyk." the knight beside him spoke up, turning away from the cell and walked off. Gideon glanced back down at the woman that he'd come to build a connection with. She just needed to wait a little bit longer. He patted his chest where he felt the cold crystal orb press against his skin. She forfeited her safety to bring him back to reality. He'll thank her later.

He followed the knight out of the dungeon where two large orcs stood at attention. Each of them had broken tusks that curved from their lower jaws. The same black tattoo of Ravnyk's symbol engraved into their dark green skin. They bowed their head at him as they left them behind. Gideon glanced down at his new set of armor, displeased by the appearance. For now though, he needed to play along until he can figure out a way to contact Xerath and rescue Rayne.

They walked for some time until they reached the war room. Ravnyk had changed the layout to match his personality. The chairs were replaced with handmade bones taken from innocent civilians. The Kingdom flag was torn to shreds, replaced by a black flag with Ravnyk's symbol stitched in red. The other war generals and orcs filled the space as Ravnyk stood at the head of the table. Gideon glanced at the large country map, many black flags were positioned within the kingdom, some fanned out past the village Rayne and himself once saved, and many more black flags on the other side of Arakhora.

"How is our prisoner?" Ravnyk called over to him, every set of eyes turning in his direction. He felt like he was on a stage with the amount of stares he received, but aside from Ravnyk's, the others had the pale expression. At least the humans did at least. The orcs and goblins followed Ravnyk without question.

"As feisty as ever." he snorted his reply, closing the door behind himself and leaned against it. Ravnyk looked pleased though. When it came to Rayne, no matter if it was about the condition she was in, or the outbursts she gave, he was entertained from it all.

"I'm glad she hasn't lost her fighting spirit. She would just get boring too quickly, and I wouldn't want that for my bride." he commented before turning back to the table, "Now to the plan at hand, Xerath has my precious weapon." he pressed his fingers down on the mountain where Xerath still resided.

"We should just attack." one of the generals spoke up. Gideon knew this general personally. His short temper and quick to take action was not replaced while being mind controlled, "Based off from Sir Ryder's description, he has one lone guardian creature protecting him and no actual substantial amount of power anymore." he slammed his fist down onto the table. Many others agreed with him, while a few shook their heads. Those that agreed were the orcs and goblins, always fueled by the sound of blood and war, while the humans disagreed, obviously wanting to actually strategize.

"We know very little of his capabilities right now. We should capture him instead, force him to use his powers for you." An orc spoke up, dried red paint covered the upper part of his face, his tusks protruding from his lower jaw. He wore wolf's fur as a vest and trousers, a battle ax sitting on his back. Compared to some of the other orcs and goblins he's met, this one's intelligence was definitely peaked higher than the rest. Ravnyk tapped his chin thoughtfully as he decided between his options. A smirk played on his lips.

"Having his dark powers would truly be one of the delightful things I'd ever receive, aside from Rayne of course." he said, his eyes for a moment flickered over to Gideon. No matter what he says. No matter what he does. He can't react. He needed to protect Rayne for as long as he could.

"No, we'll leave the poor fool be. Let him believe that he's safe for now. I'll receive my weapon, one way or another. For now, let's move forward with the assault on Barboulder." he slipped a dagger from his hip and stabbed it into the map. Gideon peered over a shoulder to see that the dagger was stabbed through a small dot on the map. He recognized the location as a small dwarven city, so small that they barely had an army to protect them, so taking them down would be easy pickings for a group of goblins. Gideon looked up, just to meet Ravnyk's gaze again, the mad man's eyes searching his own. Does he know that he's not under his control anymore?

"You're all dismissed." he called out, "Sir Ryder, please stay." he said firmly as everyone else filed out of the room. Gideon stood at attention until everyone was gone and he shut the door behind the last goblin. Ravnyk took a seat again, one leg hanging over one of the arms. His black hair tied back, his beady black eyes looked to Gideon with amusement.

"Did you need something, my King?" Gideon asked him, tasting bile in his mouth after addressing him. Ravnyk rested his cheek on his fist, looking the knight over from head to toe.

"Tell me, how close were you and Rayne while you traveled together?" he asked suddenly. Gideon raised a brow at him. As much as he didn't want to, he needed to be blatantly honest with this monster.

"We've slept together, nothing more." Gideon said distastefully. Ravnyk's eyes hardened slightly at his words, but then a twinkle of mischief sparked in his eyes.

"I see, did you come to like this woman?" Ravnyk rose to his feet and stood in front of the knight.

"No, my King. She is the enemy." Gideon stated bluntly. Ravnyk smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Good, I'd hate to have some sort of competition. I'm a petty player, after all." Ravnyk said, opening the door, "Oh, speaking about our enemy, I thought it was time to take this little game to the next level." he glanced over his shoulder to Gideon, and the knight didn't like what he saw there. Whatever this bastard had in mind, Gideon knew he wasn't going to like it one bit. But what choice did he have?

"What did you have in mind?" Gideon asked as he followed Ravnyk out to the throne room. Ravnyk stepped up to the throne, running his fingers over the back of the chair. Gideon watched as Ravnyk's hand turned an ashen black tone and wherever he touched the chair, it decayed beneath his touch, slowly crumbling little by little until the chair itself was a pile of ashes. He can't react.

"I want to show you instead."